Lynn W. Van Vleet, Denver (circa 1935)  
Thence by descent through the family to the present owner

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This painting has been lined in the past twenty years onto a synthetic support. The paint layer is stable and in very healthy condition. It does not appear to be abraded, damaged or retouched. The lining is not particularly impressive and the painting has been stretched on the wrong side of its original stretcher, so some corrections could be made to improve the structural conservation. The paint layer could also be cleaned to reveal a slightly brighter palette. Overall however, the condition is very good.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Known for his softly modeled figures and sensitive rendering of light and shadow, Torriglia was one of the most skilled genre artists of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.  His sympathetic observations of humble domestic interiors serve to celebrate the importance of simple and pure family values particularly the important bond between generations.  In Admiring the Baby, Torriglia portrays three generations of a rural family, from siblings to parents to grandparents, each focused on a swaddled infant, the happy group's newest member. The young brother plays a lullaby on his violin while a grandmother cooks over a stove enacting a common trope set within a humble, realistic interior which stimulated commentary on the daily lives of young and old.  Such scenes had particular appeal to American collectors and a significant portion of Torriglia's production entered collections in the United States.  Indeed, the present work journeyed from Italy to Colorado to join the impressive Denver art collection of Lynn W. Van Vleet, the "King of the Pinto Bean."  Van Vleet earned his unique moniker as one of the twentieth century's largest bean wholesalers, supplier to the Campbell's Soup and Lipton companies as well as several grocery outlets.  Outside of his entrepreneurship, Van Vleet is best remembered for his innovation in Arabian horse breeding in the Western United States.  Soon after purchasing the Tucker Ranch in Netherland, Boulder County, Colorado, Van Vleet realized he needed the best and smartest horses to effectively manage the cattle that ranged over his 2,800 acres.  Van Vleet's search led him as far away as Egypt and the Middle East where he selected superior Arabians, some from the regions' royal families. Skeptics believed the desert animals, largely unknown to American riders, could not possibly thrive in mountain plains  9,000 feet above sea level yet the determined Van Vleet (whose feisty spirit also earned him the nickname "The Boss") ultimately developed one of the most important horse breeding operations, founding the Arabian Horse registry, with the "Van Vleet Arabian" now one of the oldest pure breed horses in the world.  Van Vleet and his horses were visited by celebrities from Ernest Hemingway to Gypsy Rose Lee, while the ranch was featured in three Warner Brothers documentaries including Arabians in the Rockies (1945). The great Nebraskan writer of prairie life, Mari Sandoz, posthumously published novel Foal of Heaven told of the unique community of the ranch "family" and the community bond they shared—a bond not unlike that captured in Torriglia's Admiring the Baby.